Forgotten
by aslycsi1315
Summary: To deal with the team forgetting his birthday, Deeks turns to an object from his childhood for solace.
1. Chapter 1

**January 8****th****, 2013- 11:16pm**

They had forgotten his birthday.

Detective Mary Deeks' teammates, his closest friends- hell, his _family-_ had completely forgotten his birthday. Even with the hints that he dropped to Kensi Blye _all _day, Kensi still went out with Jamie, a thug from their case. Her excuse was that she had thought his birthday was the 18th and Sam, Callen, Nell, and Eric's excuses were…..well, they didn't have one. After a day where Kensi was in danger, an old defendant almost died- the _least_ people could have done is remember his birthday. The worst thing of it all was that the others' birthdays in the past had been celebrated; for example, Callen, who wasn't really a big birthday person, got a surprise trip to Vegas with the team. Add that to the once more- _Well, it's Deeks' thing. Why can't LAPD handle it? _bit from Sam and it made his 34th birthday just _lovely_.

The detective now stood outside of OPS with a black case in hand. After the team had toasted to him and chatted for about twenty minutes, Kensi had taken off for her dinner, Sam had taken off to go cook dinner for his wife, and Callen went home to have what Deeks assumed to be another catnap. Deeks had gone home and watched a crappy movie with some leftover cold pizza before returning with the case.

There was something that he needed to do; a thing one would call a sad tradition.

Deeks walked into the bullpen, not the least bit cautious of anyone being there. The placed was always cleared out by 11 at the latest unless an emergency came up or someone stayed behind to do paperwork.

"Mr. Deeks?"

The detective was startled by Hetty, who was sitting at her desk. A laptop was placed in front of her next to a blue Japanese tea set. For the long day that the two had had, she didn't look the least bit tired.

"Hetty, I didn't think anyone would be here," Deeks stammered.

The OPS manager smirked, her expression illuminated by the scarce light coming from lamp. "Late night paperwork. Is there a particular reason you're here?"

The detective hesitated, unsure of how to explain what he wanted to do. Finally, Deeks stated, "I just wanted to use one of the conference rooms to do a quick thing."

Hetty stood up from her desk and walked up to Deeks with a curious eye on the case in his hand. She glanced up to Deeks before asking, "I didn't know you still played."

"How did you know that I even played….never mind. No one else knows besides you…and Kensi, if she even remembers."

"I know all the important things about my agents, no matter how trivial they may seem. What type of violin is it?"

Deeks hesitated before sitting down on the steps and opening the case in front of her. The violin had a bit of dust on the base of it as the detective hadn't used it in about a month. "It's a Stradivarius full size violin with a carbon fiber bow. The violin's expensive as hell, especially back in the 80s when my mom somehow bought me this. It was actually on the day that I shot Gordon Brandell- it was my birthday."

Hetty sat down next to Deeks, who was tense now. No one had known that he had shot his father on his birthday. He only got two things that day- his mother gave him the violin to use when he got older and his father gave him one of the most traumatic days of his life.

"Mom had engraved it _For my prince_," Deeks continued, rubbing a finger against the gold engraving at the neck of the violin, "I was so in love with it until Gordon came home, pissed about the costs and the many other things that set him off into a rampage. And then…well, you know the rest."

Hetty nodded and placed an empathetic hand on the detective's shoulder. Deciding to change the subject, she asked, "So do you regularly play?"

"I freestyle more than I play an actual song. I only play it when I'm having a bad day."

"Like today?"

Deeks sighed and repeated, "Like today. That's why I came- I wanted to play somewhere where I don't annoy the neighbors."

Hetty suddenly stood up and cusped her hands. "Then I'll leave you to your music, but I have to ask- do you mind an audience?"

"No, not really-"

Hetty walked back to her desk and plopped down in her seat. The operations manager poured herself a cup of tea while the detective set himself to play.

"Ready?" she asked a few minutes later.

Deeks blinked before mumbling, "I don't know what to play."

"You've had a hell of a day, Mr. Deeks. I imagine that the shock of no one remembering your birthday can be an inspiration for a song."

Deeks thought back to watching the sunrise and the gift from Hetty- a small bronze pendent, or man- pendent as he had called it, earlier that morning. The detective had then spent the day, thinking that someone would make the same effort like the operations manager.

"Well, if we're talking about this lovely day, I can also add that partner ended up going out with Jamie, who in no offence, is an idiot. There wasn't much talk of me coming to Kensi's aid, even though I knew I was going to get caught. And if I hear Sam say _Why doesn't LAPD handle it_ in reference to anything involving me, I'm going to explode. I mean, what if I go missing? Are the first words out of everyone's mouth going to be _Oh well, LAPD can handle it!_ Seriously-"

Hetty put up a hand. "Mr. Deeks! Calm down!"

"Sorry, I ramble when I'm upset-"

Hetty beckoned towards his violin. "Play, Mr. Deeks. Sometimes it's best not to get things out with words."

_Tell me about it, _Deeks thought before placing his chin on the chin rest and beginning to play a melodic tone that rendered Hetty speechless. Deeks' were closed; all that detective did was pull out all the emotions that followed him around- abandonment, loneliness, anger- and let his fingers do the rest.

**A/N: If you read this story before late March 5, you know that the story had stopped here. But because of the encouraging reviews, I will continue the story. **


	2. Chapter 2

The next morning, Deeks found his teammates at their desks, all quietly working. Callen was in deep concentration over his laptop, a usual routine for the lead agent every morning. Sam was reading a case report, turning ever so slightly in his seat every few seconds. And for the detective's partner, Kensi was sitting cross legged in her chair while angrily picking at a slice of double chocolate cake. Deeks wasn't confused at all as whenever Kensi felt upset about something, food was her best friend.

"Morning," Deeks called out and received a grunt from Sam in response. Callen lifted up his cup of coffee and replied, "Hey, Deeks."

Kensi swallowed her bite of cake and said, " Hey, partner."

"What happened?" Deeks asked.

Kensi rolled her eyes and muttered, "The dinner last night was so stupid."

"What did your date do- flirt with another waitress?" Sam joked. As Callen smirked and Kensi groaned, Deeks realized that everyone had moved on from last night. _If they've moved on, maybe I should too, _the detective thought sadly. He placed his bag on his desk before he saw a long white box under his table. His heart jumped for a second, thinking that his team had suddenly came up with some sort of super gift. It all went away when he saw Hetty's handwriting on the gift tag.

"Oh, Hetty put that there this morning. She also said something about it being very private for you," Kensi said, " So...what is it?"

Deeks lifted the cover ever so slightly and his heart almost jumped out of his chest when he saw amongst white tissue paper, a white hard wood bow with a NAVY enigma engraved in it. "Oh my God-"

Sam leaned back in his chair to try and get a look, but Deeks grabbed the box and bolted for Hetty's desk. The operations manager was waiting with a smile when he arrived.

"What is this?"

"A man of your talent should be playing with one of the best bows out there," Hetty stated, " I know that you only play on a bad day, which I do hope that you start doing on good days as well."

"But I played for you last night. How did you get a bow like this so fast?"

"I called a friend who had it delivered here this morning. Enjoy it, Mr. Deeks."

Deeks was speechless. He ran a finger against the bow and whispered, "Thank you so much, Hetty."

The rest of the detective's day was terrible.

His morning had gone to hell when his LAPD boss called him in for an evaluation after he received his gift from Hetty. The evaluation turned out to be 30 minutes of humiliation in front of a department filled with sniggering detectives and cops. Next, the detective rolled his ankle while chasing down a perp through side streets of Los Angeles and then finished the day by having to hunt for an hour for his keys, which he had lost during the chase. By the end of the day, Deeks had driven home, grabbed his violin, and returned to play with his new bow in one of the conference room upstairs.

Now, Deeks slowly slid his brand new bow against the strings of the violin. He was lost in his music again while playing with his eyes closed and once more letting his fingers do the work. The note he was playing resonated throughout the conference room so beautifully that it gave the detective goose bumps. He raised the bow to play another note, but stopped at the sound of footsteps approaching the conference room door.

"Hey, you alright?"

Deeks turned around to see Callen standing at the door. Deeks' eyes shot down to the violin and bow in his hand and up to Callen. "Callen, what are you doing here?"

"I heard you playing," Callen replied, "I was actually looking for you- you had a rough day, I heard. You were really quiet too."

"Quiet? Sam called me a motor mouth twice today."

"Well, it's usually once every few hours that he calls you that." Callen stepped into the room and closed the door behind him. He took a minute to admire the violin in the detective's hands. "I didn't know you played."

Deeks placed the violin in the case and shrugged. "It's no big deal. I play when…"

"When what?"

"When I'm having a bad day," Deeks finished. He braced himself for any kind of response from Callen. The lead agent only sat at the edge of the table and said, " You know that I asked Hetty if she knew if anything was going on with you and she mentioned that you hadn't had the best history with birthdays, including yesterday."

Deeks smirked. " And let me guess- you looked in my file and found out about me shooting my dad."

Callen nodded and crossed his arms. " You shot him on your birthday."

"Well, she's right," Deeks replied, " Even after that day, my birthdays had been either spent alone or spent looking out for my mom. I know this makes me sound like a child, but I honestly thought you guys would have remembered. This is my third year on the team."

"Well, first off- I suck at remembering birthdays," Callen chuckled, "The only reason I remember Sam's is because I forgot it one year and he complained about it for a week straight. I remember Kensi's because she shares a birthday with a woman I met recently who was once a good friend of my mother's. I haven't really found a mnemonic device for your birthday yet….but with you being upset- this isn't just about a birthday, is it?"

Deeks sat down in a chair and placed a hand against his forehead and his elbow on the table. " Alright…..I'm more upset because I feel forgotten, Callen. I've felt it all my life and honestly, it was actually starting to go away when I joined this team. Believe it or not, Callen, behind all the jokes and witty remarks, I'm not the most trusting, confident person. Again, I probably sound childish-"

Callen sat down across from Deeks. "No, you sound like someone who got hurt in the past . I'm sorry that we forgot your birthday, Deeks. Trust me when I say that this team loves and cares for you. You're my little brother, you're Sam's pain in the ass, and you're Kensi's….whatever you two are. Yes, we forgot your birthday, but we haven't and won't ever forget or abandon you."

"Thanks," Deeks said with a smile. "That's what I needed to hear."

"You're welcome," Callen replied. A smile suddenly appeared on his face. " I just thought of something- an old agent friend of mine used to play the violin and he had taught me 1st and 8th position. 1-8- January 8th."

When Deeks grinned, Callen said, " Happy birthday, buddy."


	3. Chapter 3

With Callen right behind him, Deeks carried his violin case back to the bullpen where he found Sam and Kensi chatting happily with each other. Sam was tossing and catching his Lakers foam basketball and Kensi was taking bites from a frosted brownie.

"Another treat, Kens?" Deeks called out which earned him a dark glare from his partner. She placed the brownie on a paper plate and asked angrily, "What's that supposed to mean?"

"Nothing. I just," Deeks looked to Sam and Callen for support, where both in return gave him looks that screamed, Abort_! Abort!_

"I meant….never mind. I'm heading home." Deeks walked over to his desk, placed his violin under the table, and began to pack up his bag. It took the detective a few minutes to realize that Kensi and Sam were staring at his violin case.

"Deeks, what's with the black case?" Kensi asked. Without looking up, Deeks replied, "It's nothing."

"Is that a violin case?"

Deeks paused for a minute before he closed his bag and grabbed his case. "It is, but it's no big deal. I'll see you guys tomorrow."

"Oh no, no, no," Sam joked, "That _is_ a violin case. I didn't think you had a musical bone in your body with your tone deaf singing and all!"

"There's also his terrible air drumming," Kensi added. Both agents expected some kind of witty remark, a fake pout, or even a whine, but heard nothing. Deeks only stared at them with an exhausted look in his eyes. Even after Callen's pep talk, he was still exhausted from his terrible day and not in any kind of mood to be teased.

"I'll see you guys tomorrow," Deeks repeated softly before walking towards the front door. He ignored Sam and Kensi's calls and headed to his car to go to the beach.

**Lunada Bay, Rancho Palos Verdes**

Deeks walked back onto the shore with his surfboard in hand. He had been in the water for an hour- he would have stayed longer, but it was beginning to get dark. The beach still had people on it, ranging from tourists not wanting to leave yet to surfers who were planning to stay out until it was too dark to surf. The detective was calling it for the night- it had been a long, brutal day.

Deeks hoisted the surfboard up under his arm so it wouldn't slide. He gave a little wave to two passing surfers and then spotted Sam standing where he had left his clothes on the beach.

"How'd you find me?" Deeks asked, sticking the surfboard into the sand.

Sam shrugged. "Kensi told me that this was your favorite spot. We need to talk."

"I'm fine."

"Not according to Callen."

Deeks narrowed his eyes in confusion. "Callen? Wait, what did Callen tell you?"

"He told me that you play when you have bad day like today and yesterday," Sam said, "I can understand that. I was only messing with you back in the bullpen, Deeks. I didn't mean to upset you."

When Deeks didn't speak, Sam continued, "Look, I played saxophone in high school- there were days where playing my instrument helped me get away from it all. There's no pain or misery when you're lost in a song, which is why you play. And from what I hear, you're really talented, Deeks."

Deeks placed an arm on his surfboard and sighed. "Look, Sam, I played today because I had a really sucky day. I'm moving on about this birthday thing- it sucked, which is normal for me, and I'm trying to move on from it. Just ignore how I've been acting, it just my stupid personal issues getting in the way-"

Sam took a step closer to Deeks. With a hint of irritability in his voice, Sam stated, "Shooting your dad on your birthday sucks beyond belief, I get that. It doesn't make the rest of your birthdays terrible ones. Don't mope around about this birthday- this team cares about you-"

"Callen said the same thing and did he tell you everything I said-"

Sam held up a hand. "I'm talking. Anyway, this team cares about you. You are the pain in the ass little brother that I unfortunately am stuck with," he paused when he saw Deeks smirk, " In healthy families, sometimes birthdays, piano recitals, and dinners are forgotten, but it doesn't mean that the people don't care about each other, ok? Plus, I didn't actually know when you're birthday was. The only reason we didn't go straight to drinks yesterday even after the fact was that Michelle has been on me for cooking dinner for weeks now and on any day, wife trumps teammate."

"I see. So next year you'll remember?" Deeks asked in hopeful tone.

Sam rolled his eyes and replied with a smile, "What do you think?"

"Yes and that you'll shower me with gifts and parade me around like a god?"

"Don't push it. Oh," Sam held out a white party bag to the detective, "I got this for you- actually, it's a quick combo gift from Eric, Nell, and I."

"And Kensi?" Deeks asked as he took the bag.

"I don't know what she has planned for you. She took off before we had planned anything," Sam said, "Now open your gift." He watched the detective stick his nose in the bag before a large grin appeared on his face.

"High Sierra? Vertigo? Call of Duty Black Ops II? Sam, these are some of my favorite old movies and games!" Deeks exclaimed, "How did you-"

"Believe it or not, I actually do listen to your excessive rambling. Last week, you kept saying the Vertigo quote _you shouldn't keep souvenirs of a killing. You shouldn't have been that sentimental_ all day from the random movie quotes quiz that you pulled out of that goofy brain of yours. You borrowed High Sierra from Hetty three times. The game, which also has a gift card, is because Nell admitted that the three of you spent one night playing the game in OPS until midnight."

"Wow, I'm….just wow. Thanks Sam."

Sam smiled. "Like I said earlier, you're family and we do care. Your first year here we didn't know you that well to do something big and this year, things kind of got crazy for everyone. Next time, don't have your birthday so close to New Year's."

Deeks laughed. "Next time? So you _were_ listening to my speech about scientists soon being able to change people's birthday?"

Sam rolled his eyes before both men started walking towards the parking lot. "You seriously need to stop going to that conspiracy theorist infected bar of yours….."


	4. Chapter 4

**Deeks' home**

_Well maybe this birthday wasn't so bad, _Deeks thought as he walked up the stairs to his apartment. Sam had dragged him off to the Palio Oliver club where Sam, Callen, and Deeks had spent an hour drinking beers and bonding. Now the slightly intoxicated detective was heading home to spend the weekend sleeping off an impending hangover and trying to figure what was going on between Kensi and him.

Deeks paused at the front door when he saw that his mail and newspaper was missing. He pulled out his gun and quickly and quietly unlocked his door. He stepped into his dark apartment and called out, "Monty?"

No sound.

"Ok, seriously boy, you're freaking Daddy out!" Deeks flicked on his living room light and found crumbs trailing from the front door towards his bedroom. _What the hell- did the Gingerbread man break into my apartment?_ the detective thought worriedly. When he stepped into the hallway, Deeks found that the trail of crumbs led to his bedroom door. With his gun in one hand, Deeks placed a hand on the door and gave it a push open.

Kensi was sitting cross legged on the bed with Deeks' violin in hand and an empty brownie case in the other. A music book was open in front of her next to a sleeping Monty. The agent didn't notice that Deeks had walked into the room because of the techno music blasting from the headphones covering her ears.

"Kensi, what the hell!" Deeks yelled. He dropped his arm and then put the gun on the bedside table. On the bed, Monty's ears perked up at his master's outburst. Kensi pulled off her headphones and let them hang around her neck.

"It's about time you showed up," Kensi said. Deeks narrowed his eyes at his partner before saying, "I hadn't expected company tonight. What are you doing here, Kens?"

"We need to talk about your birthday and your musical genius," Kensi stated. She patted the spot on the bed right next to her. "Sit with me, please."

"Kensi, why-"

"Deeks don't make me use my gun!"

Deeks sighed before slipping off his jacket and dropping it onto his desk chair. He quietly walked over to the bed and sat at the edge of the bed. Kensi glared at her partner before pulling him closer to her in the middle of the bed. She glanced down to the violin in her hand and whispered, "I should have realized that you knew how to play back when we had that case with the girl who played the cello."

"It was just a silly little side fact-"

"It wasn't, Deeks. Your violin is one of the things that make you and I should have said something about it. I should know these little things about you just like how you always remember to have chocolate on you for me or how you force yourself to go in the woods because you know how much it means to me."

Deeks remembered their last trip to the woods, which ended in the detective getting two bee stings. "I do it because I'm your partner and that's what people for their partners."

"I'm pretty sure that you mean people that they love," Kensi said. She placed the violin upright in her lap and began singing softly, "Happy birthday to you, happy birthday to you, happy birthday dear Marty, happy birthday to you."

Deeks paused before taking the violin out of Kensi's hands and placing his chin on the chin rest. He took the bow in his other hand and slid the bow across the strings. He then began to slowly play the tune to _Happy Birthday_ while locking his eyes on Kensi. His partner grinned and rocked back and forth to the music.

"How is someone who sings tone deaf in the car play the violin so beautifully?" Kensi joked when Deeks finished playing. Deeks shrugged and placed the violin on the bed. "What makes you think that my singing is really that bad?"

"Touché."

Deeks smirked. "Alright, Fern. Since you feel pretty good about yourself, let's see how musically talented you are!"

"Alright, you're on," Kensi said determinedly. She took the violin in hand, looked at it confusedly, and then said in defeat, "How do I hold it?"

"Put your hand here," Deeks said, taking her hand and placing on the neck of the violin. Kensi placed her chin on the chin rest and then wrinkled her nose.

Deeks raised an eyebrow. "Feeling ok, princess?"

"I can smell the beer on you, Deeks," Kensi replied, letting go of the neck of the violin.

"I am a teeny weeny bit wasted- you can blame Callen and Sam for that. You have to hold the neck of the violin all the time, Kens."

"I only let it go for a second-"

"That was a long two seconds- owww! Deeks yelled out when Kensi punched in the arm. He rubbed his arm and decided to changed tactics. "You know what- let's practice with an imaginary violin before you break mine. Lean back and follow my lead."

The partners both scooted forward and laid back onto the bed. Completely out of character for her, Kensi scooted so close to her partner that her head was his shoulder. Deeks took Kensi's hand and raised it towards the ceiling. She entangled her fingers in his and whispered, "Deeks, I don't know how to tell you this, but-"

"I love you too, Kens," Deeks whispered. "I should have realized it earlier, but I think I found an inspiration to play on my good days too- you."

"Good because you need to play every day and I wasn't going to let you stop," Kensi said in a matter of fact tone. Her expression suddenly turned serious. "I'm so sorry that I forgot your birthday. I know that saying sorry won't help, but I just want you to know that I will make it up to you."

A malicious smile appeared on the detective's face. "Make it up to me? Can it-"

Kensi rolled her eyes. "It cannot have anything to do with my lingerie."

"Ok…"

"Or any new nicknames…"

"Damn, how about-"

"Not that either, Deeks."

"Ah, come on!"

**The End**


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